Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Randolph’s outward appearance was exactly as I had seen before.
However, the intelligence that had once dwelled in his eyes had vanished without a trace, and pitch-black darkness had filled that emptiness.
“Ahh…….”
The Count of Sheffield let out a bitter groan as he realized that his son’s body had been stolen by a demon.
Seeing that, I felt a slight sense of concern.
Demons could not be defeated by ordinary means.
Moreover, this situation clearly meant that Randolph was being held hostage.
As his father, the Count of Sheffield would not be able to attack rashly.
However, that worry proved to be nothing more than groundless fear, as blue flames soon flared to life over his eyes.
“How dare you take my son…….”
A mana storm on an entirely different level from before began to swirl around his entire body.
Yet the demon that had taken over Randolph’s body merely narrowed her eyes, smacking her lips as though a delicious prey had appeared right before her.
“A Sword Master and a mage. They’re perfect sacrifices to quench this body’s thirst.”
A Sword Master and a mage.
Each of them possessed power enough to face hundreds—no, thousands—on their own, yet she was looking down on us as though it were only natural.
But that was not strange.
If that demon’s true body were to manifest here, the reality was that the two of us alone would struggle to block even a single finger.
However, this was not the descent of her true body.
It was nothing more than possession of a mere sacrifice.
“…Count, can Randolph’s ego be recovered?”
That was why I asked him.
Even if we won the fight, that thing could simply abandon the body it was using and flee.
But the flesh and mind that had housed a demon were bound to be devastated.
Mishandling it could even destroy the original self.
“…I will recover it. Even if I have to stake my life.”
“Is that so.”
The Count of Sheffield quietly steeled himself with desperate resolve.
I calmly nodded at that and tightened my grip on my sword.
I, too, did not want to see Leysias, who loved her younger brother, grieving over losing Randolph.
‘If only I had Excalibur, this would be easier.’
Excalibur was a holy sword that drove out and purified all that was impure.
If so, there was a chance it could expel that demon dwelling within Randolph’s body as well.
But since it had remained silent until now, I could not afford to rely on it indefinitely.
“…….”
The Count of Sheffield signaled to me with his eyes.
To reclaim Randolph’s body, he would need special magic.
Understanding his intent to buy time, I stepped forward and drew her attention.
“I am the Third Imperial Prince of the Ribera Empire, Leios von Ribera.”
“Is it suddenly time for introductions? Well, it’s not bad as a bit of entertainment.”
The demon spoke with a playful smile, her cloak fluttering.
“I am [Frost That Comes with Calamity]. My name is Gregory, a lofty duke of the Demon Realm.”
“…Gremory?”
At that familiar name, I furrowed my brow.
It was not a name that appeared in the original work.
Still, with just the four letters of Gremory, it was possible to infer who she was—a demon with considerable standing.
Gremory, like the Hell Archduke Aloken who had appeared before, was a being derived from Solomon’s seventy-two demons.
That meant she, too, was a powerhouse on the same level.
Perhaps because the possession was unstable, I did not feel the same pressure I had when facing Aloken, but I raised my guard against Gregory to the highest level in my mind.
“…….”
While conversing with her, I glanced behind me.
The Count of Sheffield was watching this way while quietly murmuring something under his breath.
Seeing mana subtly gathering around him, it was clear he was casting a spell capable of defeating Gremory.
But it looked like he still needed a bit more time.
So I tossed out bait that would likely pique her interest.
“How is Aloken doing? After he took a severe beating from me last time, he was chased out of the Middle Realm.”
“…Aloken? Chased out?”
The Demon Realm was, quite literally, a world where the law of the jungle had become reality, and demons were the ones who practiced it most fervently.
They were grouped under the same category, but take even a single step further and it was no different from an age of warring states.
Stabbing each other in the back and constantly seeking openings to devour the weak was considered natural.
That did not change just because they were high-ranking demons.
Especially among the named ones who formed their own factions, hostility toward one another was the norm.
At times, they even placed more importance on ambushing and devouring each other than on invading the Middle Realm.
“…So it was you.”
After falling briefly into thought, Gremory let out a low sigh.
Then she stared at me with widened eyes.
“Leios von Ribera. So it was said that he took a hit from an imperial prince.”
Given her position, she would naturally be well informed about her archenemy’s affairs.
Gremory soon burst into loud laughter, bending at the waist.
“To think I’d meet you like this here. Aloken is my archenemy. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I was helped by you. In recognition of that merit, I’d like to spare your life, but…….”
She made the suggestion with a faint smile, but I shook my head, telling her not to say something so absurd.
“I have no intention of leaving until you return that body.”
“Of course. You are one with firm convictions. I know it well, having watched for countless years. Those of your kind have never bent the path they chose until the moment of death. In that case, I’ll make you the core of my chimera instead and dote on you for another thousand years.”
She spoke those chilling words as casually as breathing.
However, the one who responded was not me.
“There will be no future in which Your Highness becomes a chimera, nor one in which you leave this place alive.”
Thud.
The Count of Sheffield stepped up beside me, his eyes blazing with righteous light as blue sacred flames flared up in both of his hands.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“Then it’s fine for me to expect as much as I waited.”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
He wore a ferocious expression with a triumphant smile.
Certainly, the momentum I felt from the flames wrapped around his hand was no ordinary thing.
In response, Gremory also spoke while still looking down at us.
“Needing time wasn’t something exclusive to you.”
Snap.
When she lightly flicked her finger, the ground beneath us began to surge upward.
Earth, rock, and trees merged together to take shape, soon forming a golem as large as a fortress.
Hoooooong-!
The golem, so massive that I had to tilt my head all the way back just to see its face, swung its grotesque arm down toward us.
In response, I sharply honed my blade.
“A golem that’s nothing but big and stupid.”
An aura blade blazing as if wrapped in pure white light pierced through the darkness.
It cleanly severed the golem’s arm and carved cracks into its body as well.
Kugugugung-!
The trajectory of the severed arm twisted before it crashed down beside us.
I thought it had been brought down, but beyond the thick dust, the golem’s damaged parts regenerated at a speed even faster than they had been cut.
“It’d be troublesome if you treated something made by me, Gremory, like an ordinary one.”
As Gremory flicked her finger once more, a single corpse rose from the center of the golem’s body.
It was the Dark Elf’s flesh she had been possessing just moments ago.
The golem immediately began compressing itself around it.
Kkadeuk, kkadeudeuk.
A bizarre sound of bones and flesh twisting, rocks and trees crumbling echoed in all directions.
It seemed the fortress had witnessed this as well, as chaos broke out there.
Lights flared up here and there, the gates opened, and what looked like a group of reinforcements began moving toward us.
“You think I’ll just let you do as you please?!”
When the Count of Sheffield swung his hand, blue sacred flames descended, burning through the darkness.
They soon began to consume the demonic energy coating the golem’s surface, and upon seeing that sight, Gremory spoke with a slightly surprised expression.
“The Flames of Prometheus… To think there’s still a mage who can handle that.”
“Then you should also know well that this is your kind’s natural enemy.”
The Flames of Prometheus.
In the distant ancient past.
When the ruler of this continent had yet to be decided, it was a sacred flame bestowed by a demigod who pitied humanity, the weakest of all races.
‘I probably can’t use that myself.’
Only those who had reached the realm of a true mage could wield these flames, borrowed from the legends of Greek mythology.
For someone like me, still in Fourth Class, it would be beyond my capabilities.
“Rain of Sacred Flame.”
At the Count of Sheffield’s gesture as he finished chanting, blue flames poured down upon the golem like a torrential downpour.
“How long do you think you can keep using those flames?”
The golem, now reduced to about two meters in size, protected its master while sneering at the Count of Sheffield.
Its body burned fiercely, engulfed in the inferno, yet perhaps empowered by a high-ranking demon, its regeneration speed was just as abnormal.
Tadadadat-!
While the two were locked in a fierce struggle, I surged forward with aura wrapped around my entire body, and blazing light erupted once more between the blue flames.
Thud.
“Ts.”
My sword cleaved into the golem’s shoulder and bit into its body, but perhaps due to the immense mass compressed within, cutting as far as its chest was my limit.
As I clicked my tongue and tried to pull my sword free, the golem—still burning—extended its hand and grabbed my right shoulder.
“Ugh?!”
The Flames of Prometheus were a magic effective only against demons, so they didn’t affect me, but the tremendous grip strength and weight crushed my shoulder with pain, forcing a groan from my lips.
Swaeaeik-!
Then, beneath it, a black hand seemingly formed of demonic energy stabbed toward my heart.
I hurriedly twisted my body to deflect it, but with the golem’s hand firmly gripping my shoulder, the black hand carved a shallow yet long wound across my chest.
“…This is why demons are.”
Now that I had achieved my first awakening, there were only a handful of foes in the Middle Realm who could stand against me.
Of course, the gap between me and absolute powerhouses like Sword Saint Yohanel or the Archmage Chris was still vast, but I was confident I could defeat most skilled opponents.
Yet demons were monsters that even protagonists armed with every stroke of fortune, talent, and effort had struggled against.
Even I, by demonic standards, was still no more than mid-to-low tier, and despite being a high-ranking demon, this was only a possessed body, not a proper manifestation—yet it still overwhelmed me.
‘The fact that there’s still room for me to grow makes me happy.’
But I no longer felt the despair I once had.
Instead, my competitive spirit surged, filling me with the desire to give it a real try.
“Hah!”
With my free left hand, I struck the golem’s torso with all my might.
A throbbing pain shot up my wrist, but the recoil was enough to shake off the hand gripping my shoulder.
Whirik.
I lightly flipped my body and retreated near the Count of Sheffield, who was still struggling against Gremory, then placed my hand on my shattered shoulder and began chanting.
“[O Saint of Earth, bestow upon me your grace, Healing].”
A pale green light settled over my shoulder, mending the wound.
One of my traits, Super Recovery, was highly effective against cuts and bleeding wounds, but it was slower when it came to broken bones or torn muscles.
From experience, I had learned that healing magic worked better in cases like this.
“…You can use magic as well?”
The Count of Sheffield, who had been harassing Gremory with the Flames of Prometheus, stared at me with widened eyes.
In response, I gave a bitter smile and repeated an answer I had once given someone before.
“With a face like mine, life’s been pretty rough. I needed plenty of insurance.”
“Then that means…….”
His eyes gleamed sharply.
It wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking.
The bloodline of the Ribera imperial family was special even in this world.
They showed talent in every field they pursued and achieved mastery far faster than others.
Having reached Sword Master and learned magic as well, he must have assumed my level was extraordinary—but I shook my head.
“Even so, magic like the Flames of Prometheus is still beyond me…….”
Magic like the Flames of Prometheus, which could harm a high-ranking demon, was not only difficult to learn, but even now I had only managed to activate it by relying on system assist.
However, when the message from the status window rang out immediately after, I couldn’t help but gape.
[SYSTEM: Interpretation of the ancient magic ‘Flames of Prometheus’ has been completed.]
[SYSTEM: Would you like to learn the ancient magic ‘Flames of Prometheus’? Y / N]